The Mayflower Voyagers
"The Mayflower Voyagers" is a Thanksgiving-themed episode of the Peanuts miniseries This Is America, Charlie Brown. It is, in fact, the first episode overall, and the only holiday-themed one. Linus narrates the whole special. Plot In 1620, with 70 adults (quantity of men, and that of women not specified), 32 children (including the gang), and some animals (including the dog, Snoopy). Lucy, one of the children, acts as part of the crew. No matter the weather, there is not a good condition aboard ship. For one thing, Charlie can't eat his wafer properly, as it bounces off his plate when he puts his fork into it. There are some who have to sleep on floors. It gets even worse when there is a storm, and all the passengers have to stay inside the stinky cabins. To make matters worse, a man named John Howland falls overboard from the stormy wind, and a beam gets cracked and bowed, so hours of a debate with non-Pilgrim Captain Miles Standish are followed with fixing the beam, as they have gone too far to turn back for England. After 65 days, the Mayflower hits the New World, but doesn't yet hit Plymouth Rock, with only 101 passengers, as two of them had died in the crossing, and one of the Pilgrim women had given birth to a baby. After the arrival in the New World, the gang can finally wash their clothes on shore. Meanwhile, kindling is burned on the Mayflower to rid it of the stench. Throughout a harsh winter, a commonhouse is being built, and some people lie sick or dying. The Mayflower turns into a hospital ship. The same thing happens to the commonhouse as soon as it is finally done. Miraculously, 30 children live, and Lucy assigns chores to pairs and to take two hours to get them done and back, including Sally and herself. She mentions that she had such a pretty face that Captain Miles Standish liked how pretty her face looked that he put her in charge. One pair, consisting of Charlie and Linus, has to get wintergreen and checkerberries. Linus reminds Charlie to have faith; however, their hunt is stopped when a bird caws. Another pair, consisting of Peppermint Patty and Marcie, has to get kindling (twigs for burning). Marcie expresses fear of wolves, Indians, and storms. Peppermint Patty tells her to forget those sources of her fear (adding, concerning the Indians, that they'd seen none since they had landed). Upon Marcie asking, Peppermint Patty says it's natural for people with big noses to be brave. Marcie screams over a snake, and they run, but Marcie tells her she had made it up, much to Patty's rage, but Marcie thanks her for making her no longer afraid. She says it's because that way of running from that snake gave them the ability to outrun anything alive. Another pair, Snoopy and Woodstock, has to get drinking water... but Woodstock, being small and weak, can't carry his pail. Meanwhile, Sally and Lucy are patching up clothes and talking about the benefits of having Captain Standish as their captain. When Lucy explains that among his good deeds is teaching them self-defense from the Indians, Sally worries about today being the day they attack because she hasn't even finished the wash yet. In an early March of 1621, the gang meets an Indian by the name of Samoset. It is mentioned, by poor sentence structure, that he had learned from English fishermen. There were hardly any Indians, as almost all of them had died four years before. The only other survivor is Squanto, also good at English... better, in fact. Two sunrises later, Samoset brings him to them, and Squanto explains he had been kidnapped by English fur traders. Squanto then teaches the children about catching a school of fish called alewives, and how to use them in planting corn: by digging the earth into 6' squares (2' x 3'), mounding four hills into each square, placing two or three corn kernels in each hill, and placing the fish around the seeds for compost to improve the soil. Meanwhile, Squanto hunts a turkey, and he and Samoset bring over their great chief by the name of Massasoit. Soon after, the Pilgrims harvest corn and pumpkins. Eventually, they have a Thanksgiving feast. The Captain starts the feast with a moment of silence for any and all who had passed away, and tells anyone who wishes to give thanks to please speak out. Charlie thanks the Lord for their harvest, Linus for the good homes and health, and Lucy for the three notable Indian guests... and Standish thanks the chief for some reason. After the gang has eaten, Schroeder (on piano), Lucy (on some horn), and Snoopy (on some drums) plays the Peanuts theme, and Squanto admits to Charlie Brown that the former doesn't understand some of the latter's customs. Goof Somehow, while the storm is tossing the ship, Schroeder and two other boys are not bouncing or falling off the ship despite being outside the cabin, but not bracing themselves. Category:1988 Releases Category:NBC Category:Originally aired on NBC Category:Released in the 1980s